photo by: Braden Shaw

The Lawrence High volleyball team huddles up during its season opener against Blue Valley Northwest Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, at LHS.

The final record didn’t tell the whole story for the Lawrence High volleyball team.

LHS won just one of its five matches during a home tournament Saturday afternoon, though it battled in each tilt in what could end up being an important test for the defending 6A state champions. Lawrence’s lone victory came against Olathe Northwest, winning in straight sets (25-15, 25-22) in the fourth match of the day.

The Lions started the day off by losing to Blue Valley (25-16, 25-12) and Garden City (25-17, 25-18) in straight sets. LHS won the first set against Manhattan by a score of 25-17 before losing the next two sets (25-18, 25-15) in the third match of the day.

Lawrence then was swept by Blue Valley West (25-10, 25-11) to end the day.

LHS will travel to Free State at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

BSA volleyball suffers sweep

Bishop Seabury’s volleyball team fell in straight sets to Wellsville (25-17, 25-15) in a home match to Wellsville on Saturday afternoon.

The performance came just a few days after BSA split a triangular with Heritage Christian Academy and Pembroke Hill. The Seahawks earned a 2-1 win over Heritage Christian Academy (21-25, 25-21, 25-20) and dropped a 2-0 decision to Pembroke Hill (25-14, 25-23) at home Tuesday.

Bishop Seabury is now 10-17 on the year, though multiple players have posted strong seasons. Junior Reaghan Bible leads the team with 203 kills, while senior Gabriella Aubel has 116 kills. Freshman Gisele French leads the team with 155 assists.

BSA will host a triangular with Kansas City East Christian and Veritas at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Cross-country runners shine

Multiple area cross-country teams were in action this weekend at several different meets. Bishop Seabury sent three runners to the Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.

Freshman Oona Nelson finished 64th out of 629 runners in the varsity girls race with a time of 20:11. Senior Henry Nelson ran a time of 16:31, placing 61st out of 714 runners in the boys race. Emma Roman Nose took sixth in the 2-mile race with a mark of 12:21.

Tonganoxie’s boys cross-country team won the Perry-Lecompton Invitational with a score of 37 points, which was 59 points better than runner-up Bishop Miege. PLHS placed fourth with a score of 111.

THS senior Jake Edholm led the way with a third-place finish with a time of 18:48.43. Freshman Eli Gilmore (18:57.81) and senior Dylan Graham (19:06.67) came in right behind him at fourth and fifth, respectively. Perry-Lecompton junior James Bartlett led his team with a 15th-place finish with a time of 19:54.08.

On the girls side, Perry-Lecompton finished as a runner-up in its home meet with a score of 57 points. THS took third with 76 points, while Anderson County won the race with 37 points. Tonganoxie junior Kristi Chambers placed fifth with a mark of 23:23.91. Senior Blaise Ball led the Kaws with a time of 24:21.39, which was good enough for 15th place.

Both Eudora cross-country teams were in action at the Council Grove Invitational. EHS won the girls race with 39 points, while the boys team claimed second place.

Eudora seniors Riley Hiebert and Reagan Hiebert notched second and third, respectively, in the varsity girls race. Riley Hiebert ran a time of 19:42.00, while Reagan Hiebert clocked a time of 20:11.00. Phoebe Fletcher (seventh) and Kate Erpelding (eighth) joined them in the top eight.

On the boys side, EHS sophomore Cody Loganbill placed eighth with a time of 17:55.00. Eudora senior Jarratt Bradley notched 10th with a mark of 18:03.00.

Firebirds win gymnastics meet

Free State’s gymnastics team won a meet at Newton High School on Saturday with team score of 101.450. Lawrence High placed fourth in the same meet, scoring 90.400 as a team.

Talia Gay won two events (bars and beam) for the Firebirds. Zoe Williams placed first in vault. Tori Crockett placed third in all-around rankings, while Chaney Finkeldei netted fourth. Crockett took third in both bars and beam, while also placing sixth in vault.

Ashley Mai notched fourth in vault, and Finkeldei registered fifth on the floor routine. Williams took second in beam and sixth in floor.

For the Lions, Paris Spotted Tail claimed the top spot in the all-around rankings. Spotted Tail was first in floor, second in vault, third in beam and fifth in bars.

Both teams will be back in action in a quadrangular at LHS at 6 p.m. Monday.